1. Field of the Invention
The subject technology relates to energy conversion and, particularly, to radiative micron-gap thermophotovoltaic modules with integrated pressure application to maintain the micron-gap.
2. Background of the Related Art
Technology has been driven to improve upon energy usage and generation in all aspects. Everyone will benefit from super efficient technology and design for power generation. To that end, breakthrough technology has been developed to convert heat into power. For example, a micron-gap thermophotovoltaic large scale sub-micron gap method and apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 8,791,357 to Brown et al. issued on Jul. 29, 2014. The technology of U.S. Pat. No. 8,791,357 is an energy conversion system leveraging near-field thermophotovoltaic (PV) cells with conductive transfer of energy from a hot housing to an emitter through direct physical contact between the emitter and housing by way of a thermal interface material. Additional examples of near-field thermal PV cells are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,546 to DiMatteo et al. issued on May 15, 2001 and U.S. Patent Application PGPUB No. 2009/0277488 to Greiff et al. published on Nov. 12, 2009 (now issued U.S. Pat. No. 8,076,569).